Kazakhstan has claimed a historic bronze.
The Kazakh National University of Sport team defeated the University of Texas at Dallas in a dramatic Armageddon decider to finish third at the inaugural FIDE World University Team Chess Championship 2026 in Almaty, DKNews.kz reports.
Ural State Mining University won the championship, while Saint Louis University of the United States took silver.
Kazakhstan wins bronze after dramatic tiebreak
The battle for third place became one of the most intense matches of the tournament.
Neither the Kazakh National University of Sport (KNUS) nor the University of Texas at Dallas was willing to give ground.
The American team won the first match 2.5–1.5. Grandmaster Kazybek Nogerbek drew with Grandmaster Samant Aditya, while International Master Arystan Isanzhulov defeated Yair Parkhov.
International Master Meruert Kamalidenova lost to Grandmaster Kustav Chatterjee, while Alisher Mazhkenov was defeated by Woman Grandmaster Maili-Jade Ouellet.
The second match ended with the same score, but this time in Kazakhstan's favor — 2.5–1.5.
Isanzhulov and Kamalidenova earned one point each for KNUS, while Nogerbek added another half-point with a draw.
With the overall score level, the teams headed to a blitz tiebreak with a 3+2 time control.
Nogerbek saves Kazakhstan's medal hopes
The pressure was particularly high on Kazybek Nogerbek.
His game against Samant Aditya was the last to finish, and by that point the University of Texas at Dallas had already collected two points.
Nogerbek needed a win — and nothing else — to level the blitz match and keep Kazakhstan's bronze-medal hopes alive.
He delivered under pressure, making the score 2–2.
That sent the bronze-medal match into Armageddon.
Each team selected one player for the decisive game. After the draw, the two top boards met again: Nogerbek for Kazakhstan and Aditya for the United States.
Kazakhstan won the decisive encounter and secured bronze.
«Of course, it was difficult. I understood that I was fighting not only for my team and university, but also representing the whole country, so I was very nervous. It was a huge support for us that our coach was nearby, and today our rector also came. We really wanted to win, and every teammate made their contribution. The motivation was enormous. All the opponents here are very strong — the best universities and the strongest chess players in the world who study there came to compete. Even in games where it might seem easier to play, you couldn't relax for a second: any opponent could spring a surprise. That's why we tried to give everything in every game. As for the decisive games, experience helped me — I've played many Armageddon and blitz games in my life, so I tried not to get too nervous,» Grandmaster Kazybek Nogerbek said.
Ural State Mining University wins the world title
Ural State Mining University took first place after defeating Saint Louis University in the final.
Both matches ended 2.5–1.5 in favor of the Ural team.
Grandmaster Arseniy Nesterov drew twice with Grandmaster Aryan Chopra. The games involving Grandmasters Rudik Makarian and Bharath Subramaniyam also ended in draws.
Sergey Lobanov drew with Nikolozi Kacharava and later with Viktor Gazik.
The decisive contribution came from International Master Leya Garifullina, who defeated Woman Grandmaster Thalia Cervantes Landeiro twice.
The champions said the final itself proved more manageable than their semifinal encounter against the Kazakh team.
«To be honest, the final was very controlled. It was immediately clear that we were big favorites on the fourth board, while on the third board we somehow had to hold our position. So, in principle, it was quite a relaxed day for us. Strangely enough, the semifinal match against the team from Kazakhstan was more difficult. We could have lost the first match, but we confidently won the second, while managing to save the first. Overall, this championship is being held for the first time, so it is very pleasant to win it. There are no particular questions about the organization either. It was a great pleasure to be in Almaty and to take part in this tournament,» Ural State Mining University team member Rudik Makarian said.
79 universities competed for a place
The FIDE World University Team Chess Championship was held for the first time.
A total of 79 university teams from 49 countries competed for places in the final stage.
The tournament structure included:
- Eight teams qualifying through the online stage
- Eight teams invited by the organizers
- 16 university teams competing in the final stage in Almaty
- Eight teams advancing from the group stage to the playoffs
- Quarterfinals, semifinals, a bronze-medal match and the final
The format brought together university students from six continents, including internationally ranked chess players and grandmasters.
Kazakhstan's initiative becomes a global tournament
First Vice President of the Kazakhstan Chess Federation Darmen Sadvakasov described the KNUS bronze as a dramatic conclusion to the tournament.
«Dear friends, I am very pleased to state now that the Kazakh team KNUS has won bronze at this World Team Championship. It happened literally in the final minutes. We were extremely worried: in the tiebreak our team had practically already lost the match, but Kazybek Nogerbek managed to outsmart his opponent and secure victory in the second tiebreak game, after which the Armageddon game took place. Once again, Kazybek Nogerbek played this game one-on-one against the captain of the American team. The position was, in principle, equal, but obviously still playable. And today luck smiled on Kazybek: he won this game, bringing victory to our team and third place on the podium. We are very happy about this. Overall, the tournament was a success, judging by the feedback from all the students who came to visit us from six continents. We have a wonderful city, we took them on excursions, they enjoyed our mountains, museums and wonderful atmosphere. And perhaps this is the most important thing, because Kazakhstan's initiative to hold the first World Team Championship among universities has succeeded,» Darmen Sadvakasov said.
For Kazakhstan, the bronze carries additional significance because it came at the inaugural edition of a tournament launched on the country's initiative.
The result also showed that a Kazakh university team could compete with strong university chess programs from the United States and other major chess nations.
Almaty hosted the inaugural championship
The championship was held at Farabi Hub at Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.
The event was organized by FIDE, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Tourism and Sports, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, the Kazakhstan Chess Federation and the Almaty city administration.
The Freedom group of companies and the Shapagat Corporate Foundation served as general partners.
Official partners included Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty Tourism Bureau and Visit Almaty, Herbalife, Lichess.org, Zigi-Zagi and Qutty Band.
For Almaty, the tournament combined elite university chess with international educational and cultural exchange. For Kazakhstan, the home bronze provided a symbolic finish to the first championship of its kind.
